Packaging machines



Sept. 16, 1958 4 T. W. MCINTYRE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINES Filed March 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l mlIlllllllllmlllllllllll 7a/@MMM AT TOR NE YS Sept 16 1958 T. w. MGINTYRE Erm. 2,851,838

PACKAGING MACHINES Filed March 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 lum w ""Wlnumih) m M4 Arron/w: Ys

United States Patent() PACKAGING MACHINES Thomas W. McIntyre and ArchibaldH. Smith, Dumont,

N. J., assignors to Mac, Inc., Dumont, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March-9, 1956, Serial No. 570,579

9 Claims. (Cl. 53-,189)

This invention relates to packaging machines and'pertains particularly to a type of machine in which .a bag is opened and held open by an air blast While the article or articles to be packaged are-inserted therein.

In such machines it is important to operating speedand eiiiciency that successive bags be opened surely and quickly by the air blast and that the opened bag be held in distended position to receive the article or articles to be packaged. It is important,'too, thatthe parts of the machine, and particularly the platform for the bags and the table for the articles, be -so arranged that the article or articles to be packaged may be moved veasily and iquickly from the table into the distended bag. Itis an object of the invention to.-accomplish,these results.

It Ais a further object of the invention to provide movable guide arms which are useful in packagingcertain types of articles, which saidzarms areinormally` retracted away from the bags so as .not .tointerfere with theiopening of the bags, but which may be .advanced .to enter :the opened bag and to support the opened bag while.,the article or articles are being inserted.

Other 'objects and advantages of the invention vwill appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a perspective view of the apparatus.

Figure 2 .is a vertical sectional View on the line 2 2 of Fig. 6.

Figure 3 is a sectionon the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of one of the movable guide arms.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Figure 5.

-Figure 7 Iis a top plan View with the table removed.

Figure 8 is a similar view with the table and adjusting slide in place.

Referring `to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a frame including two sheet metal side panels 1 and Zconnected together in parallel relationship in any suitable manner, as by angle iron 3 and other suitable cross members, not shown. Mounted on the upper edges of the side panels is a top panel 4 which serves las a table or support for articles to be packaged. A shorter top panel 5 serves as an extension of the table and serves also as a cover for the air distributing chamber 6 hereinafter described. lt is preferably adjustable by means of screws' 7 to vary the direction of the airblast discharged from the distributing chamber.

The distributing chamber extends transversely across the full width of the table, being preferably triangular in cross section and locatedimmediately adjacenty the front panel 8. In fact, in the present embodiment, the distributing chamber is formed by bending the front panel 8 downwardly to form the downwardly inclined panel 9, and then upwardly toform the upwardly inclined panel 10. The top of the chamber is covered bythe panel 5, but the `front edge of the panel 5 isspaced from the upper fthe drawings. which it is'advisable-tousewhenfilling bags of maximum Mdice l `edge of panel 9 to providea slot 11 extending .transversely across'the machine Vthrough which an air blast'is directed to open and distend the bags as hereinafter explained. A suitableblower `12 isrmountedwithinthe casing, having its discharge Vconduit 13 bolted to .thepanel 10.

`Mounted on the front end of the casing is a. movable platform '14 for-supporting vastack of bags. :Said platform comprises an :enclosed box-like `structure having front, side and bottom panels'and a horizontal coveri1`5 which lies in a plane which is always parallel :to theplane 'of the article table. The platformis mounted'to. move vertically on `thern'ain frame,having a pair of angle irons 16 -secured 'thereto each of -which carries rollers 17, `18 which ride onopposite sides ofa guide `rail formed by ange 19 vand angle ironl20. r'lheplatform is urged upwardly by a spring 21 one 'end'of which 'isisecured to the angle iron 16 and the other end of `whichis secured to any suitable xed support such as the distributing.' chamber, as shown. -A threaded bolt 22 may'be1provided, if desired, for convenient adjustment .of thetension Aot' the ,spring. In use, `a stack Vof bags B is `placed'on 'theiplatlform in position such that the front openfedges oflthe bagslies beneath the end of the projecting tongue 23With the tongue lying between theV side edges'of the bag, preferably centrally therebetween. Thespring holds the Ybags `a-gainstfthe ytongue with a `predetermined pressure, lthe lengthv and tension of ithe spring being'preferablychosen `solasitocompensate forthe. loss vof weight on theplatform as the bags `are removed. That is, the pressure `of the bags against the tongue should vremain substantially '.constant as bags are removed from the stack.

'The tongueZS is conveniently secured to the panel9 'at approximately the center thereof and extends hori- `zontally outwardly therefrom to engage and hold the top bag lof the stack at approximately the levelof the air blast .slot and approximately at'thelevel of .the article table. vIt will also be noted that the width of the tongue Yisrnuch less than the'width of the slot A11, -being approximately one-third Vof the width. of `the slot, as shown `in This -is "the maximum width of tongue Width, such as `shown in Figure l where the bags are ynearly-aslwideasthetable. vWhen lling bags offlesser width, Vit is'advisable to replace the tongue Jshown `with anarrower tongue.

jWhen 'lling the bags, the top bag of the stack is `approximately at the level of the slot`1v1, and'due tofthe yfact *that the slotextends 'transversely beyond the tongue in vboth directions, theiair blast discharged from the slot lon both sides of thek tongue impinges on the `*opposed free edges of the open ends of the bags, tending `to-sepa- 'trate them,so that the instant vthe 'upperply of Vthe top ybag begins to bereleased bythe operator, as shown `in Figure y2, the bag will be intlated and distended. "Pref- Verably the panel 5 is provided with a notch 24imme'dilately to the'irear of the tongue and aligned l-with the "discharge conduit 13 'so thatan upwardly inclined blast Aof air is directed into Jthe opened bag to hold'the same "in distended condition. Thus, inoperation, it is the air blasts discharged from the slots on either side of'the tongue which are primarily effective in opening the top bag when the upper ply is released b y the operator, while .it :is the central blast inthe region of the tongue which holds the bags in distended 4position, for lling. v'Thereason .for limiting Ythe width Vot the tongue .is to providea substantial margin .of the bag width -on both sides ofthe `tongue wherein the side blasts may impinge on the free edges of the bags.

Invsome 4cases. it is desirable to .adjust the forcent :the `air-blast .to provide optimum conditions for.bags ofdifferent .size,.diterentmaterials,different weight, etc. .This

is easily accomplished by throttling the intake port to the blower 12 by a disk 25 mounted on the side of the blower casing. The said disk is secured to a rod 26 which extends through the side panel 1 and carries a knob 27 by means of which the shaft may be turned to adjust the disk as desired.

In many cases, the machine thus far described may be used for packaging without the provision of movable guide arms for guiding the article or articles into the distended bag. For example, in the case of articles such as sweaters, for example, which are soft and pliable, the insertion .into the distended bag can be made easily and quickly without the aid of guide arms. In this connection, the importance of the position of the table and tongue relative to the bags and their supporting platform should again be emphasized. That is, since the table is in a plane which is always parallel to the plane of the platform, and since the tongue holds the top bag of the stack at a level only slightly below the level of the table, an article on the table may be moved into the bag with a single, continuous, straight motion.

In other cases, however, where the articles to be packaged are somewhat hard tor stili, or in cases Where the article tits the bag snugly, or in cases where the articles may have corners or projections which are likely to catch -on the edges ofthe `distended bag the use of guide arms may be important to facilitate rapid insertion of articles.

For this purpose, .a pair of guide arms 31 are provided. As shown in Figure said arms are formed of sheet metal having substantially flat rear portions 32 and having their outer edges 33 bent inwardly increasingly toward the front portions to form the cylindrical shaped ends 34 which enter the bags as hereinafter described. Said arms are secured to socket members 35 which receive the ends of supporting rods 36. Said rods extend downwardly through the full height of the casing and terminate in horizontal legs 37 which extend through bearings 38 secured to the horizontal bottom panel 39, so that the rods and arms may oscillate on horizontal axes. In this manner, the axes of the cylindrical shaped ends 34 of the arms always remain substantially parallel and substantially horizontal as the arms are moved as hereinafter described. The rods are connected by a spring 40 which is under tension'suiricient to normally hold the .arms in closed, retracted position as shown in full lines in Figure 7.

As will be noted in Figure 7, the legs 37 are angularly disposed to the longitudinal axis of the machine, the angle shown in the `drawings being approximately 30. Thus, when the arms are moved transversely of the machine, they also move longitudinally as shown in Figure 7. Preferably the upper ends of the rods 36 extend through and are guided by slots 41 which are cut in the top panel 4 to extend in directions perpendicular to the axis of oscillation of the respective arms.

If desired, the amplitude of movement of the arms may be controlled by a slide panel 42 which rests on Iand is slidable with respect to the top panel 4. The said slide panel has a pair of transverse slots 43 formed therein which intersect the slots 41 so that the edges of the slots 43 limit the travel of the rods in the slots 41. The slide panel also has la longitudinal slot 44 formed therein through which a set screw 45 extends to hold the slide in the desired position of adjustment.

In operation, the operator rst releases the upper ply of the top bag of the stack as previously described to allow the bag to be opened and distended as previously described. At this time the arms are retracted and are clear of the bags, as shown in Figure 2. Then the operator places the article to be packaged on the flat portions of the arms as shown in Figure 2, while at the same time pushing the article forwardly toward the distended bag. Such movement spreads the arms apart while at the same time advancing the cylindrical ends 34 to enter the previously opened bag. Continued movement causes the article to enter the bag, and as soon as the article leaves the guide arms, they return to their original position under the iniluence of spring 40.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modited and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

We claim as our invention:

l. A packaging machine comprising a frame including a table for articles to be packaged, a support for a stack of bags mounted on said frame, said support being movable relative to said table, a tongue of less width than the bags mounted on said frame to engage the front edge of the top bag of the stack between the side edges thereof, means to urge said support and stack of bags into engagement with said tongue, said tongue holding the top bag of the stack at approximately the level of said table, and means including a slot extending laterally in both directions beyond said tongue for directing an air blast toward each of those portions of the front edge of the top bag which are not engaged by the tongue and which lie on either side of the tongue to inilate the top bag.

2. A machine as claimed in claim l in which said frame includes guides for said support, and said support is mounted to move on said guides and is movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the table, said support having a bag supporting surface always lying in a plane parallel to the plane of said table.

3. A machine as claimed in claim l in which said air blast directing means includes an air distributing charnber having a top cover constituting an extension of said table, said chamber having a slot extending transversely across the machine through which said air blast is discharged.

4. A machine as claimed in claim l in which an air blast is also directed across and aboye said tongue and into a bag held by said tongue.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said air blast directing means includes an air distributing chamber having a top cover constituting an extension of said table, said chamber having a slot extending transversely across the machine through which said air blast is discharged, said top cover having an edge forming the edge of said slot, said edge having a notch therein ybehind said tongue through which an air blast is directed across and l above said tongue.

6. A packaging machine comprising a frame including a table for articles to be packaged, a support for a stack of bags mounted on said frame, said support being movable relative to said table, a tongue mounted on said frame to engage the front edge of the top bag of the stack, means to urge said support and stack of bags into engagement with said tongue, said tongue holdingl the top bag of the stack at approximately the level of said table, means for inilating the top bag of the stack, a pair of movable guide arms located above said table, and supports for said guide arms extending through said table, said supports being mounted in horizontal bearings so that said arms may oscillate on horizontal axes.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said guide arms are normally located behind the bags and in which the axes of said horizontal bearings are inclined to the longitudinal axis of the machine so that as said arms are moved transversely, they also move forwardly to enter the inated bag.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said guide arms are normally located behind the bags and in which said table is provided with a pair of slots which are oppositely inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the machine and which guide said supports, the axes of said bearings being perpendicular to said slots so that as said arms are moved transversely, they also move forwardly to enter the inflated bag.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said guide arms are normally located behind the bags and in which said table is provided with a pair of slots which are 5 6 oppositely inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis References Cited in the le of this patent of the machine and which guide said supports, and an adjustable slide mounted on said table, said slide having UNITED STATES PATENTS slots therein which intersect the slots of the table and 1,490,070 Korth Apr. 8, 1924 limit the travel of said supports. 5 2,770,084 Ruderman Nov. 13, 1956 

